Our Story
One family’s vision for a New Zealand escape - classic, warm hospitality with an unwavering commitment to excellence.
The Robertson family invite you to make their award-winning lodges as a home away from home as you discover the captivating landscape of Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud. Julian Robertson and his family’s love affair with New Zealand can only be described as an enduring epic. Now it’s your turn . . .
In 1995, Julian Robertson travelled to New Zealand to acquire a working sheep farm near the Bay of Islands on the North Island. Over the next six years, the Robertson's developed and opened the Kauri Cliffs championship golf course designed by David Harman, and The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs, marking the family's first foray into the luxury hospitality industry.
Within a year of Kauri opening in 2001, the lodge would be named among the top resorts in the world by premier publications such as Andrew Harper, Conde Nast Traveler, Golf Digest, Tatler Magazine and Travel + Leisure.
Later that year, the family acquired a second farm, this time in the stunning Hawke's Bay on the east coast of the North Island. Following a similar vision to Kauri Cliffs, this farm would also become the site of a championship golf course, this time designed by Tom Doak. Soon after in 2007, The Farm at Cape Kidnappers welcome its first guest becoming the family's second luxury lodge property.
In late 2009, the family purchased Matakauri Lodge in the adventure capital Queenstown, on the South Island. The Lodge was fully renovated before reopening in 2010, and is the perfect complement to the Robertsons' collection of breathtaking resort properties.
